Recently, we have been hearing Israeli and diaspora Jewish voices expressing disappointment at the Catholic Church’s reaction to the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7. The claim is that the pope has not sufficiently condemned the crimes of Hamas and, furthermore, that he has created a symmetry between Hamas and Israel in his comments. If that Read more
On the night before he died, Jesus prayed to his Father: ‘May them be one as we are one.’ (John 17.11). But from the beginning, in almost every document of the New Testament, we see the disciples divided, quarrelling, excommunicating each other. We are gathered in this Synod because we too are divided and hope Read more
Every 73 seconds, someone is sexually assaulted in the U.S., which means it’s likely that you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence. Talking about sexual assault is hard. For many survivors, the reaction of the first person they disclose to, often a friend or family member can have a huge effect on their Read more
My good friend John von Heyking published a marvelous book in 2016, The Form of Politics: Aristotle and Plato on Friendship. The book argues for something important: We should recover a sense that politics is not about a partisan competition or any effort to win by defeating somebody else. Politics is friendship—and really the highest Read more
Chances are you are going to loathe at least one of your kid’s friends, sometimes for no good reason, but this is one situation where you have to tread very carefully. 1. Never admit it. That’s the fastest way to make them infinitely more attractive to toddlers and teenagers. If you want to change a Read more
It was a honking big needle the nurse held up as my very sick friend pulled up his sleeve. I really, really don’t like needles, but I stayed by his chair as the nurse pushed the needle into the underside of his upper arm, because that was a spot that wasn’t all bruised from IV Read more